Exuberant faces no hurdles when completing the rituals in the Astonish Trophy
By Usman Rangila
Mumbai
Jan 06, 2005
Four horses were lined up for a so-called contest in the curtain raiser on Thursday. Trainers Narendra Lagad and Purtu Singh saddled one horse apiece whilst Magansingh Jodha saddled the rest. When these four contestants vying for the Bay Beauty Trophy paraded inside the paddock on Thursday afternoon, one could not help but laud the unabashed courage shown by the RWITC administration in “framing” races that are nothing but a virtual farce.
Favourite Naaina attempted to swerve towards the left when the starter’s flag came down and Malesh Narredu faced extreme difficulty in controlling her and in the meanwhile her stable-mate Eternal Beauty slipped into the lead. After the field of four raced in a single file till the last turn, C. Rajendra asked Starlite (Portroe-Worthwhile) for an effort. The top-weighted bay managed to score but not before quelling the stiff resistance of Eternal Beauty. Naaina came close to the haunches of Starlite in the straight but was unable to collar him though she did relegate Eternal Beauty to the third slot in the end.
Rajendra completed a instant double when he steered Darius Byramji saddled debutant Iberian (Placerville-Cambridge Ball) to an impressive victory over favourite Acindar, who flattered to deceive in showing the way to the field till heads turned for home. Exuberant then completed the ritual of claiming the Astonish Trophy quite comfortably. Niall McCullagh rode the S. Padmanabhan trained Exuberant (Placerville-Stunning) in copybook style and had the measure of Fashionable without raising any sweat.
Niall powered his way to another winning brace of the season astride the public rage Dancing Image after criss-crossing his way towards the shortest route home. The Altaf Hussain nursed bay filly swept past leader Sparkle for her third career success. It was surprising enough to witness Path of Fortune, Adams Beauty and Amadomio abstain themselves from the fray.
Top-weighted Star Aviation (Alnasr Alwasheek-Super Avie) from trainer Dallas Todywalla’s barns showed good improvement on her previous effort and went on to win from Charlie Parker and Rage of Angels. The last named was touted as a virtual certainty before the race but she ran far below par to justify the money she gobbled. Nonetheless, she should be a better proposition in her next venture. Indigo, Second To Go and Ace of Hearts did not figure on the judges’ frame but they had much better reasons to do so than what appeared on the ground.
Exotic Fantasy (Razeen-Cover Story) made every post of the seven-furlong trip a winning one in the hands of Suraj Narredu in the upper division of the Kilshannig Plate. The Hormuz Antia trained filly stretched out beautifully in the straight for a convincing victory over Starscape and Infinite Glory and has the ability to repeat her feat. Earlier in the day, Healing Ray, sent out by veteran Saeed Shah, came with a rousing gallop to bring the curtains down on the start-to-finish mission of Open Season. Royal Aristocrat was alerted a wee bit late and had to be content with the runner-up berth.
The six-year-old grey gelding took all of five years to earn his maiden win but just a fortnight to record his second. Dr Anil Kumar nurtured son of Metal Precieux out of Reve De Venus lay unconcerned at the wrong end of the field as Momentous Mover called the early shots over the Derby trip. Bangalore-based rider A. R. Mani timed his challenge to perfection as he waited long enough to launch his assault. Grease Lightning came weaving his way down the middle of the track and Mani then packed enough punch in his riding to wear down Momentous Mover and thwart Imogene in the shadow of the winning post.
